'He's a miracle.' Long Island officers honored for saving 4-year-old's life

Shane Petruzzelli was at Laser Bounce in Levittown when his heart stopped, and he collapsed.

Krista McNally

Jun 2, 2023, 7:30 AM

Updated 327 days ago

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A Wantagh family says they are grateful to the Nassau County officers who saved their 4-year-old's life.
Shane Petruzzelli was at Laser Bounce in Levittown when his heart stopped, and he collapsed in April. His mother began to give her child CPR, police were called and first responders quickly arrived.
"We determined that he didn't have a pulse, so we relied on our training, all worked together as a team, we knew what each other was going to do," says Nassau County Police Officer Christopher Rogers. "We put the AED on, and we had a great outcome."
The officers put a defibrillator on the boy and shocked him twice. Shane Petruzzelli was not responding and had no pulse, but they persisted.
"I wasn't going to sit and let Shane just sit there," Rogers says. "We had a job to do, and we weren't going to take no from anybody, and we just kept on going."
The 4-year-old's pulse came back, and he began to breath once in the ambulance.
After initial treatment, Shane Petruzzelli was brought to Boston for a specialized surgery. He was then diagnosed with cardiac fibroma, an extremely rare heart disease, which he is now being treated for.
The officers and police medics who saved Shane's life were honored at the Nassau County Legislature.
"Thank God man - Every night, I look at him fall asleep on the couch and I think he's a miracle," says Shane Petruzzelli's father, Justin Petruzzelli.
Those who would like to help the Petruzzelli's with their medical bills and expenses can do so through their GoFundMe.


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